What Causes Lane Departure Car Accidents?

Have you ever had a moment where you’re on Interstate 40 and you just “zoned out” for a minute? Another driver honks, you get startled, and you swerve back into your lane. With a quickened heartbeat, you realize that you just narrowly avoided getting into a crash because of a brief lapse of attention.

That’s all it takes for a lane departure car crash.

But most lane departure crashes do not occur because of a brief lapse of attention. Lane departure crashes occur when a vehicle drifts out of its lane and either runs off the road to the right or moves into the path of oncoming traffic to the left. While lane departure accidents are usually attributed to driver error, there are a number of reasons why a car might drift.

Also called unintentional lane drift crashes, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) estimates that some form of “incapacitation reportedly played a role in 34 percent of collisions and 42 percent of crashes resulting in fatal or serious injuries.” Common causes of lane departure crashes include:

• Drunk/drugged driving
• Medical emergency
• Falling asleep at the wheel
• Defective auto parts
• Tire blowouts

Using technology to help prevent lane departure crashes

Car manufacturers continue to find ways to use technology to keep human drivers safe on the road. Consumer Reports describes lane departure warning as a system that alerts the driver with an audible, visual, or tactile warning that causes the seat or steering wheel to vibrate if the driver allows the vehicle to drift out of its lane. Lane-keep assist technology will return the car to its lane if the car drifts, and the driver does nothing to correct it. Lane-keep technology relies on the painted markings on the road, so if the markings are faded or if the road is covered in snow, leaves, or other debris, the system will not work. (My Car Does What?)

Do lane departure and crash avoidance systems work to prevent traffic crashes?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety evaluated crash-avoidance features and data from police-reported crashes, and it found that lane departure warning systems lower the rate of single-vehicle, sideswipe, and head-on crashes of all severities by 11%. Crash avoidance systems also lower the rate of injury crashes of the same type by 21%. The researchers estimate that if all passenger vehicles had been equipped with lane departure warning, nearly 85,000 police-reported crashes and more than 55,000 injuries would have been prevented in 2015. Another study that did not account for driver demographics found that lane departure warning systems cut the fatal car crash rate by 86%. Jessica Cicchino, vice president for research at IIHS said of the study, “This is the first evidence that lane departure warning is working to prevent crashes of passenger vehicles on U.S. roads. Given the large number of fatal crashes that involve unintentional lane departures, technology aimed at preventing them has the potential to save a lot of lives.”

Lane departure warning systems are helpful to alert the driver when they have drifted from their lane, but if the driver is incapacitated because of sleep, alcohol, or a medical emergency, these systems will not help to avoid an accident.

The experienced Memphis car accident lawyers of Bailey & Greer, PLLC help you recover compensation when you have been injured in a car accident. We proudly serve the residents of Memphis, Jackson, and West Tennessee. You are encouraged to call us today at 901-680-9777 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation with an experienced Memphis crash lawyer.